Falling Around Us

I woke up in the middle of Autumn today. Even though we have been carefully marking the change in colors on the trees, the rain rushed in with some bulky, gray clouds and firmly stated that it is, indeed, Autumn. And somehow, that surprised me. I'd dare anyone in the Western New York region to disagree that the foliage colors have been outstanding this year. Matt and I even made it out of Jamestown for a day trip to Letchworth State Park last Saturday with Richard and his girlfriend, Kim.

The latest bit of news that's not weather related is my new membership in the Warren Civic Orchestra. It's hard to fathom that I've lived in this area for over five years, and never knew that this orchestra existed a mere 15 miles over the stateline. The music they play is college-level, which is throwing me for a loop because I've been "stuck" in the first violin section. Arguably, I suck right now due to years of non-performance, but it's coming back slowly. Hopefully a little practice on my part and the remaining month of rehearsals will find me in passable shape.

Being able to play with high-level musicians isn't the only bonus to this orchestra. The half hour drive back has shown it can be deliriously fantastic. Since gas is about $0.06 to $0.10 cheaper just over the border, I have been making it a point to stop and fill up my tank on my way home. Last night I was feeling a little wiped out after a long work day and a hard practice, so I dropped into the station store to buy a cup of coffee. The girl behind the counter laughed as I babbled happily about the freshly brewed pot of coffee, danced around the prep area looking for the cream, which was right in front of me; and proudly counting out my change at the cash register so I didn't have to break a $20 bill. I needed that caffeine.

With Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue playing in my car, I took off. The first sips of the so-so coffee gave me that jolt I sorely needed. Every mouthful of burning coffee afterwards resulted in loud exaltations of "Praise Jesus!" and "Oh it's so good!" When caffeine courses through the veins, life, the universe, and everything seems perfect. The feeling hearkened back to nights spent in the coffeehouses of my youth. It's good to find that again, even if the coffee is of gas stop quality.

New Addition To The Family

Next Wednesday, we'll be bringing home the little guy below. Everyone, meet Angus, our new black Laborador:

Black Angus

Matt found him at the Chautauqua County Humane Society's stray shelter. I'm not much of a pet person but I had to relent when Matt looked at me with big, puppy dog eyes. He's a nice dog. Angus, not Matt. He didn't bark the whole time we were at the shelter and he's already trained to sit and shake hands. The next step is to dog-proof our house and buy pet accessories (dog bowl, dog toys, dog food, dog treats, etc.). I'll take more pictures after he's here at home.

The Best Advice for the Young Professional

I've heard a lot of advice from professors and those working the "real world" when it comes to succeeding post-college. Some of the best advice I've received is to read everything. This is no exaggeration. I'm glad to see that Jennifer Weiner is passing on this advice on her blog in a section called, So You Want To Be A Novelist?

Read everything. Read fiction and non-fiction, read hot best sellers and the classics you never got around to in college. Read men, read women, read travel guides and Harlequins and epic poetry and cookbooks and cereal boxes, if you're desperate. Get the rhythm of good writing in your ears. Cram your head with characters and stories. Abuse your library privileges. Never stop looking at the world, and never stop reading to find out what sense other people have made of it. If people give you a hard time and tell you to get your nose out of a book, tell them you're working. Tell them it's research. Tell them to pipe down and leave you alone.

If everyone read just one more book, one more magazine, surfed three more news sites, added a few blogs, and added a newspaper to their monthly routine, I think we'd have a much more educated public in terms of current events and cultural awareness.

Pre-Debate Re-Cap Laugh

Ok.. as if most of you haven't seen this already. It's good for a laugh again:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: First Presidential Debate Recap

Meeting the Future Vice President (Hopefully)

Julia Meets Senator John Edwards

Okay, finally got a chance to add to this post. I'm beat, but I do have an interesting story to relay. This morning, I parked my car on the lake side of the Athenaeum Hotel. The motorcade cars were starting to line up, so I walked up the road to the Hotel Annex and cut across the dewy grass to the "back" door of the hotel. Seeing no volunteers in the lobby to herd upstairs to our designated area, I wearily climbed the stairs to the second floor. The lack of secret service people at the landing struck me as odd, but I continued on, figuring that someone would have stopped me by now if they were restricting the area.

I sensed in my peripheral someone walking just behind me on my right side and decided to offer a "good morning." I was pretty tired, but figured I had to put on a smile at least for those who were working even longer hours. Turning slightly to my right, I offered that smile, and got one back. Then I did a stunned doubletake, saying, "Oh! Hi!" It came out more as a question than a greeting as I realized the man next to me was no other than Senator John Edwards. He returned the "Hi" and I mumbled, "Sorry to bother you!" as I rushed down the rest of hall towards the volunteer area. His familiar-from-tv drawl sounded as he answered a question from someone in a back office. My heart thudded as I entered the annex lounge, the double wooden doors closing behind me in a soft woosh.

To answer a question many women have asked me, yes, he as handsome in person as he appears on tv. I don't say that about too many politicians either.

Now, you'd think I'd be well-poised when I finally got to shake Sen. Edward's hand and to offer some good luck on his debate but I think I managed to turn into a bit of a starry-eyed, young girl and babbled something about thanking him for letting us work for him or something. Bwah! At least I got some nice shots from the week. I probably will post some of the other ones over on Fiercest Calm when I get a moment.

Vice Presidential Candidate John Edwards Visits a Local Fruit & Vegetable Stand

Senator Edwards actually took a break from debate preparation and left the Chautauqua Institution grounds to enjoy the beautiful Autumn day here in the county. I wish I could say I was there to take these pictures, but I wasn't. Lucky for me, Bonnie Jean, who is on the Kerry-Edward's staff, took my digi with her to get some snaps. So at least I have a couple pictures. The two below are my favorites.


Senator John Edwards Greets Local Chautauquan

Note the logo on the right side of John's fleece. This is the "Official Fleece" for the Debate Camp. Only staffers and the traveling press corp received these though.


John & Elizabeth Edwards Buy A Pumpkin

I understand that the Edwards bought their pumpkin at Half Acre Farm on Route 394 just outside the village of Mayville. I cropped the photo so that you didn't get all the mic booms, reporters, and motorcade vans in the picture.

So this was my main excitement for the day. That and nearly getting run over by the motorcade as they took Senator Edwards to the site where he's been practicing. I had to yell, "Car!" while I was riding around with Bonnie Jean in a golf cart this morning. She mentioned that motorcade cars really don't stop for anything, so we would have been smooshed if she hadn't stopped in time. Otherwise, I'm home a little earlier than planned since things are pretty quiet at the Institution. It's been a cool experience all around though. Tomorrow we'll see if my digi gets some more use, with me in front of it with the Senator this time!

Last note: Sen. Edwards did make a stop in Erie, PA on Friday before coming over to the Institution to buckle down and work. Here's the link to that story.

Quickie...

I'm finding it hard to believe I'm up and functioning before 7am on a Sunday, but I wanted to leave a quick post before I headed back to Chautauqua Institution. The volunteering is going well as it could considering how different an event this is for John Edward's staff AKA this isn't a one day rally-deal where you get in and get out in 24 hours. We actually had to cut back on volunteers!

So I'm driving a golf cart around a lot between press sites aaaaannnnndddd that's about it for the moment. However, I have passed by Mrs. Edwards although I didn't initially realize it was her. A nice lady. By nice, I mean that she smiled and said hello. I've run into some local politicians that don't always do that! I hear that today may be more eventful in terms of what there is to do around our location. When all this is done, I'll fill you in on what I assume I'm allowed to. Lots of rules about keeping our mouths shut due to privacy issues. Until then...

Choosing What Matters In the Long Run... With A Twist

Over the past two days, I've found out that I'm going to miss out on a chance to work with the press for when Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards comes to Chautauqua Institution. I'm a little bummed about it since it would have been a great experience in many ways, but I know that attending a life-long friend's wedding is more important. A short post, yes, but I don't think I need to say anymore.

Addendum:

My mom surprised the heck out of me. Well, not really, but I guess I was a little surprised. I will be the media volunteer person for the Edwards visit afterall. Basically it came down to the fact that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, there's a slight chance I might get paid (which is important when you consider my financial situation), and the fact that my friend and her family know what it's like to be looking for a job and then having something temporary come up that you can't turn down.

So I will have no life from now until next Tuesday. I'm headed back to the Institution this morning, with return home uncertain. I'll try to do some blog updates over the next few days because I'm sure there will be a lot of interesting things to tell you all about.

Excellent Editorial By Novelist Indicting Bush

This is a piece written by novelist E.L. Doctorow. It first appeared in the September 9th issue of the East Hampton Star/Long Island, New York. Link to Source:

The Unfeeling President
by E.L. Doctorow
I fault this president for not knowing what death is. He does not suffer the
death of our twenty-one year olds who wanted to be what they could be.

On the eve of D-day in 1944 General Eiscenhowerprayed to God for the
lives of the young soldiers he knew were going to die. He knew what death was.
Even in a justifiable war, a war not of choice but of necessity, a war of
survival, the cost was almost more than Eisenhower could bear.

But this
president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it. You see him
joking with the press, peering under the table for the WMDs he can't seem to
find, you see him at rallies strutting up to the stage in shirt sleeves to the
roar of the carefully screened crowd, smiling and waving,triumphal, a he-man. He
does not mourn. He doesn't understand why he should mourn. He is satisfied
during the course of a speech written for him to look solemn for a moment and
speak of the brave young Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their
country. But you study him, you look into his eyes and know he dissembles an
emotion which he does not feel in the depths of his being because he has no
capacity for it. He does not feel a personal responsibility for the thousand
dead young men and women who wanted be what they could be. They come to his desk
not as youngsters with mothers and fatheror wives and children who will suffer
to the end of their days a terribly torn fabric of familial relationships and
the inconsolable remembrance of aborted life.... they come to his desk as a
political liability which is why the press is not permitted to photograph the
arrival of their coffins from Iraq. How then can he mourn? To mourn is to
express regret and he regrets nothing. He does not regret that his reason for
going to war was, as he knew, unsubstantiated by the facts. He does not regret
that his bungled plan for the war's aftermath has made of his
mission-accomplished a disaster. He does not regret that rather than controlling
terrorism his war in Iraq has licensed it. So he never mourns for the dead and
crippled youngsters who have fought this war of his choice. He wanted to go to
war and he did. He had not the mind to perceive the costs of war, or to listen
to those who knew those costs. He did not understand that you do not go to war
when it is one of the options but when it is the only option; you go not because
you want to but because you have to.

Yet this president knew it would be
difficult for Americans not to cheer the overthrow of a foreign dictator. He
knew that much. This president and his supporters would seem to have a mind for
only one thing --- to take power, to remain in power, and to use that power for
the sake of themselves and their friends. A war will do that as well as
anything. You become a war time leader. The country gets behind you. Dissent
becomes inappropriate. And so he does not drop to his knees, he is not contrite,
he does not sit in the church with the grieving parents and wives and children.
He is the President who does not feel. He does not feel for the families of the
dead, he does not feel for the thirty five million of us who live in poverty, he
does not feel for the forty percent who cannot afford health insurance, he does
not feel for the miners whose lungs are turning black or for the working people
he has deprived of the chance to work overtime at time-and-a-half to pay their
bills --- it is amazing for how many people in this country this President does
not feel. But he will dissemble feeling. He will say in all sincerity he is
relieving the wealthiest one percent of the population of their tax burden for
the sake of the rest of us, and that he is polluting the air we breathe for the
sake of our economy, and that he is decreasing the safety regulations for coal
mines to save the coal miners' jobs, and that he is depriving workers of their
time-and-a-half benefits for overtime because this is actually a way to honor
them by raising them into the professional class. And this litany of lies he
will versify with reverences for God and the flag and democracy, when just what
he and his party are doing to our democracy is choking the life out of it.

But there is one more terribly sad thing about all of this. I remember
the millions of people here and around the world who marched against the war. It
was extraordinary, that spontaneous aroused oversoul of alarm and protest that
transcended national borders. Why did it happen? After all, this was not the
only war anyone had ever seen coming. There are little wars all over the world
most of the time. But the cry of protest was the appalled understanding of
millions of people that America was ceding its role as the last best hope of
mankind. It was their perception that the classic archetype of democracy was
morphing into a rogue nation. The greatest democratic republic in history was
turning its back on the future, using its extraordinary power and standing not
to advance the ideal of a concordance of civilizations but to endorse the kind
of tribal combat that originated with the Neanderthals, a people, now extinct,
who could imagine ensuring their survival by no other means than pre-emptive
war.

The president we get is the country we get. With each president the
nation is conformed spiritually. He is the artificer of our malleable national
soul. He proposes not only the laws but the kinds of lawlessness that govern our
lives and invoke our responses. The people he appoints are cast in his image.
The trouble they get into and get us into, is his characteristic trouble.
Finally the media amplify his character into our moral weather report. He
becomes the face of our sky, the conditions that prevail: How can we sustain
ourselves as the United States of America given the stupid and ineffective
warmaking, the constitutionally insensitive lawgiving, and the monarchal
economics of this president? He cannot mourn but is a figure of such moral
vacancy as to make us mourn for ourselves.

E. L. Doctorow is an American novelist. His works are noted for their
mingling of American history and literary imagination through the interaction of
fictional and real-life characters

Another excellent mid-day perusal: "If America Were Iraq, What Would It Be Like?

Taking Over Small Town America One Cup of Coffee At A Time...

The "big" news around here is that Starbucks is finally going to open a shop in the Greater Jamestown Area AKA in the town of Ellicott. While I've been saying for over five years that I would be thrilled if a Starbucks came to town, I'm feeling a little guilty since we just discovered that one of the local shops, Rider's Cup, is now open on Fridays and Saturdays until 10:30pm. They also offer free DSL hook-up for lap-top users whereas Starbucks charges for this perk.

Either way, it will be nice to have another choice in town, even if I don't like the coffee at Starbucks.

Here's the news story:

Starbucks Coffee Will Soon Be Brewing In West Ellicott

By STEVEN M. SWEENEY

WEST ELLICOTT - Developers for Starbucks are getting ready to fulfill Jamestowners thirst for high-test java.

According to Ellicott officials, the internationally recognized coffee house chain will put up shop on Chautauqua County's commercial strip at the corner of Fairmount and Wicks Avenues - site of the former Owl's Nest gift store.

"We've known about it for a year and a half," said Pat Tyler, Ellicott town supervisor. "Starbucks is one of the originals that had expressed interest in that site. Anytime you can develop a site in the town, it's great."

Lamparelli Properties, Inc., is the Buffalo-area owner of the land and developer for the project which initially included a Starbucks and a Montana Mills bakery.

"We didn't know what was happening, but it was kept alive in all that confusion," said Randy Woodbury, Ellicott's code enforcement officer. He was speaking of the confusion that resulted from the changes in site plans when the second franchise withdrew. The developer is now clear for one building.

"They've been through the planning and zoning boards and through several appearances and several changes," Woodbury said. "There is going to be a drive-through with an entrance and exit off of Wicks Avenue. Their plan is code compliant."

Attempts to reach the company were unsuccessful. Minutes of board meetings indicate the company's agent, Fred LoFaso, has frequently appeared to answer questions before the zoning and planning boards on issues ranging from drainage to store hours for nearly a year and a half to satisfaction.

Woodbury said the finished building will be approximately 50 by 24 feet or 1,200 square feet excluding accompanying parking. Lamparelli Properties will also seek approval for more than one sign.

"They've chosen to have their sign on the building,'' he said. ''If they want a sign on a pole or elsewhere, they will need a variance."

Ellicott's zoning board of appeals is holding a mandatory public hearing on the matter at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 in the town's office on S. Work Street in Falconer.

It's merely a another step on the road to future development - a trend Tyler hopes to continue.

"Anytime you have a choice to do things'' they go at them, Tyler said. ''New businesses bring new money. We keep pursuing them."

Going Home...

This weekend, Matt and I are traveling back to Rochester for the first time since the beginning of July for an early celebration of my mom's birthday. When we arrive Friday night, the current plans are to go bowling and then have a few drinks with Heidi, Ryan, Sean, Anne, Beth, Jeff, Ben, Susan, and possibly Courtney if she gets out of work at a reasonable time.

Saturday, the only plans set are going to The Reunion with my parents and my Aunt Carol and Uncle Don for dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday and belatedly celebrate my Aunt & Uncle's 30th wedding anniversary. Afterwards is dessert, featuring the most delicious ice cream cake from some bakery in Webster. My dad has been getting this cake for my mom for over 20 years I believe. It's a layered cake with vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream; next to layers of frozen, crushed pineapples and strawberries.

Sunday, I hear the "boys" are going golfing while the women are going down to Naples for the Annual Grape Festival.

Truth is, I miss "home". I got that pang of homesickness when I saw the featured photo of the O'Rorke Bridge. At least I'll be back there again next weekend as well for a wedding, so hopefully I can get in some of my favorite things to do while in Rochester over these two weeks.

The Next Day..

On the flip side of my whine/bitch day, I do have to comment that we've had an unbelievable string of fantastic days here in Western New York. Aside from the deluge we experienced for all of two days when remnants of Frances swept through, the month of September has been spectacular.

It's also been a mite quiet at work, so I indulged myself a little and dreamed over different music play lists on WBER and essential music lists on Amazon. If there's one thing that could easily bankrupt me, it's my addiction to music. Here's a list of some of the albums I've recently acquired:

Basement Jaxx - Kish Kash
Depeche Mode - Music For The Masses
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Howie Day - Stop All The World Now
Junior Senior - D-D-Don't Stop The Beat
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
The Smiths - The Smiths
Thornley - Come Again
Tori Amos - Tales of a Librarian

Coming soon to my mailbox:

Keane - Hopes & Fears
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell

Top 5 Must Have CDs on My Wish List (in alpha order):

Beastie Boys - To The 5 Boroughs
John Linnell - State Songs
The 6ths - Hyacinths & Thistles
The Cure - The Cure
Various Artists - Future Sound For America

Honorable Mention: Oasis - Definitely Maybe

Some Cheese With This?

Okay, this is probably going to break down into a huge whine/bitch session, so be forewarned.

I'm done.

I'm done with campaigns. I'm done with politics as much as possible. I'm just done.

I've spent the past 3 years and 5 months using up every ounce of sanity I have supporting numerous candidates, successful and unsuccessful for political offices; working in a job that tries to balance a severe line between politics and working for the good of the people, and having to dedicate huge amounts of my personal free time toward political causes, political committees, and political events.

I'm done.

I have less than 3 months in this job that has been a part-time job since January. I have applied for five jobs, some I was over qualified for, some I didn't have the experience needed, in an attempt to find employment before my status at work ends. I had one interview. I'm competing with many people in this area with similar experience, who are looking for similar jobs, in a seemingly, increasingly tight job market. I can't move, or look for employment in other cities, because my husband has a good job with excellent benefits where we live now.

I guess the let down of last night and the fact that I'm facing some potentially hard times after years of good luck in the job market is a little bit of shock to the system. I even missed my turn off to get on the expressway this morning on my way to work, only noticing after I had driven nearly two miles past the entrance.

I know I'm not as bad off as other people in this area and around the country, but I can't help but take some of it personally. For those who know the background of more of this, you know why I say that. I'm just hoping that something, anything, comes up in the next couple of months.

Addendum: Post-election/primary day is always a crash. Phew. Somewhat back to my normal self. It's all good.

And This One Ends...

Well... my boss didn't win the primary. And so it goes. Life may or may not get a little quieter for the next few weeks. Just a little tired after working hard the past weeks on this effort. But what can you do? It's just too bad I'm not the most enthusiastic supporter of the candidate that won the primary.

Where The Buzz Started..

I took a quick break to finally add a picture to my profile on the right. I took this picture in Java's back in May 2003 after seeing A Mighty Wind. I have many other older pictures from the original Java Joe's, but since our scanner needs to be stomped on and tossed out, I doubt I'll be uploading any of them any time soon.

Otherwise, my last note until tonight, perhaps, is to urge you to get out to vote if the party you're registered with has a primary today.

Childish Antics In Politics

When the opposite side resorts to hair-pulling to get demonstrators away from a rally, you have to wonder about their maturity and if they have brains.


Anti-Bush Demonstrator Gets Hair Pulled Source: AP

On a political note, if you live in the 27th Congressional District and you're a Democrat, don't forget to get out to vote in the Congressional Primary on Tuesday, September 14th. Polls are open from 6am to 9pm in Erie County and 12 noon to 9pm in Chautauqua County. Anyone see the inequality in that? Damn the Republican Election Commissioner who refused to acknowledge that and send a bill to our Republican State representative to have the Chautauqua County hours made equal to Erie.

I'll Take What We Get Here...

With Hurricane Ivan now a Category 5 hurricane with winds topping out at 160 mph, I am even more resolute about not moving too far from Western New York. Sure we received over 4 inches rain in some areas of the county due to remnants of Hurricane Frances, but even that's not so bad.

Someone even suggested that it wouldn't be so terrible if that rain had been snow instead. The figures this acquantance presented was that 4 inches of rain equals 12 inches of heavy, wet snow and 20 inches of light-weight snow. If someone can find me the science behind this, please leave a note in the comments section for this post.

Either way, the result is generally good downhill or cross-country skiing. Four inches of rain? Can't have any fun with that! At least that I know of around here.

Take that Florida!

You Know You're Getting Older...

Sometimes you're just going along with everyday life, thinking nothing of it, when it hits you. You've gotten older. Now this is not anything unusual. It happens to everyone until something stops that process. Death is usually that something. Plastic surgery and botox don't count.

Today, my "wow, you're getting older" moment happened after I reflected on a conversation I had with some co-workers. We were discussing a new home that had been built on the lake, the square-footage, and the rumor that it had been assessed at one-third its actual value. Three years ago, half that conversation would have sounded like adult gibberish to my brain. Today, a nice watercooler conversation.

Anyone else find this unsettling?

Bush/Cheney Sloganator

The most hysterical things I've seen in a day or two: Bush/Cheney Sloganator.

"In the backwater swirling..."

Okay, the subject line isn't dead on word-wise, but it's what came to mind when I heard that Southern Tier Brewing has a new line of beers coming out called the Blackwater Series. The Beer Guys at the Democract & Chronicle did a story about this hefty new line. Too bad I don't like stouts, but Heidi tells me it's a meal in a glass.

Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are...

On my way to work, I caught a news story on the radio about an air and land search that was going to take place this morning in the Chautauqua Gorge-area for a missing Jamestown woman. The mass of law enforcement agency personnel had gathered for a briefing at a small airport I pass by on my way to work. Seeing this large, international group (some had come from Missisauga, Ontario) gave me an ill feeling. Most of the people I've talked to the past couple of weeks assume that Yolanda Bindic is dead.

A quick study of the case: 25 year-old Yolanda Bindics, a mother of four, went missing August 10th after leaving her place of employment at The Dollar Store. Her van was found in an Arby's parking lot down the street. The FBI is investigating and two people have been named "persons of interest" including Jamestown Police Officer Michael Watson and a former boyfriend and father of one of Yolanda's children, Clarence Carte. Officer Watson was placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation is taking place. Mr. Carte is considered a "fugitive of justice" as he is wanted in Florida for violation of probation on a robbery.

Obviously the locals have a lot of speculation about the case. Even Chautauqua Word editor Michael Salamone jumped into the fray in an August 19th post on his blog that wondered whether there was more to this story than what was being reported. Allusions were made in that post to a book, Ripe For The Picking, about the investigation and failed trial in the 1988 murder of Jamestown woman Kathy Wilson. I picked up this book after selling my chick lit for store credit at Barbara Berry's Bookshop yesterday.

I skimmed huge chunks of the book, mostly because it was information I had already read. Living in this area, it's an odd feeling to read a book that talks about people that I know and work with. I told Matt he should read it. I would consider saying that I have doubts about the information presented in the book, but you really can't dispute the simple questions the author raises about the investigation of Kathy Wilson's murder. The main question I would have is why law enforcement officials never compared the fingerprints found on the van Mrs. Wilson was last seen in to two men who could be considered suspects in the case. One of those men actually confessed to killing Mrs. Wilson, but according to investigation files police never followed up on that lead. Odd stuff.

So now we wait and see if the search that's to take place today just 8 miles from where I sit will reveal where Ms. Bindics has been these past 23 days.

Selling The Drama...

In an hour and a half, I will be embarking on a trip to see if I can sell off some of the chick lit I've been acquiring the past two years. These are the kinds of books I've bought in various airports or at Target in anticipation of a trip, and then read the entire book over the course of a 3-hour flight. Yes, these books are that fast of a read. Of course, I also read the last Harry Potter book in 8 hours, so I'm sure it depends on the reader.

Why the sell-off? Well, money is partially a reason, but another main goal is the on-going de-cluttering of our house. After the wedding, I realized we have a lot of stuff. It was getting to a point where I was almost ready to call in TLC's Clean Sweep team! While a garage sale will have to be put off until next season due to a shortage in free time, Matt has promised to help me do the whole Toss-Sell-Salavation Army routine sometime before October.

The Village Voice On Protesting During the GOP Convention

The Village Voice has a piece about how protests during the GOP Convention next week in NYC could backfire.

Inherently, I think the author dead-on in his cautions. I'm not so certain we can trust the cable channels or national networks to give us the fairest view of what's happening in this world anymore. That's a sad statement to make, especially from a former newswoman. Yes, I generally still trust ABC News and even CNN, but doubt has started to linger when I consider how unbiased a news source is and whether they are honestly trying to portray the whole picture.

The online media has become a sort of salvation. It's the online media of blogs, Internet-only magazines, and access to news sources outside this country that lets me still believe that I can find the truth somewhere. This same new media is what also makes me believe that the GOP Convention will receive fair coverage and if there's any misconduct by authorities, it can't simply be glossed over by Big Media as wrong-doings by protestors as it was in 1968.

A Blogging Violist

I was cued into a blog by a violist from the Minnesota Orchestra. It's more of a series of journal entries detailing the orchestra's tour of Europe. An interesting, and humorous to the music insiders like this line describing a comment by the Orchestra Director on a difficult piece of music:

"Some parts, I follow well. But sometimes, I just have to give the beat, and hope that someone, somewhere in the orchestra, knows what to do with it."

Who hasn't been there before as a musician? My memories of getting hopelessly lost in a piece of music come from scattered instances in the Rochester Philharmonic Youth orchestra, Greece Symphony Orchestra, or Baldwin-Wallace College's Orchestra. There's that moment right when you're sight-reading a piece for the first time, where you lose concentration for a mere moment, and suddenly, the notes rush together and you could be in the third movement when you thought you were playing the Coda of first or second movement. The key is to not do that while soloing!

So I Want To Get a Free iPod...

I've been wanting to get some sort of mp3 player for awhile now. Portability is a real issue for me, since I have hundreds of cds and hundreds of music files on my computer. Trying to burn multiple mix cds just isn't realistic timewise for me, so I began researching what was available to me in terms of technology. Again and again, I kept coming back to the iPod. It had received high marks from various sites and is now Windows compatible.

The problem was still the price. As impending unemployment and a slow job market make any funds I have even more precious, the idea of buying an mp3 player seemed almost frivolous. Then I read something on Wired.Com about a legitimate site where you could get an iPod for free. A legit site offering something for free?? No way! I took a look and it all seems on the up and up. So why don't you lend me a hand and help me out by visiting this referral link.

As an incentive, the person who helps me make my final referral requirements will receive a free mix cd of music of your choice (as long as I can find the songs).

Do You Eat Your Kiwi With A Spife?

After indulging in kiwi on the cruise, I decided to pick up some Zespri Kiwi from Wegmans for lunch this week. In the basket with the kiwi's, I noticed this weird little utensil. Since it came free with the kiwi, I took one. I now know it's called a spife. It's certainly handy, but I find that if you don't do a good job of wiping off the handle after cutting the kiwi, your hand gets sticky while using the spoon end.

A kiwi memory:

The first time I had kiwi was as little kid at my grandparent's house in Lackawanna. My grandmother would actually peel a whole kiwi, cut it into quarters, and serve it to me on a plate while I watched morning cartoons. I had never seen a kiwi before and asked what it was. She replied, "It's like a strawberry and banana rolled into one fruit." As the tart juices fill my mouth now, I still instantly think of my grandparent's living room and hot, sunny days in Buffalo.

Cha Cha Real Smooth

Latest guilty pleasures:

"Cha Cha Slide" by Mr. C The Slide Man

The Princess Diaries 2


Now Charlie Brown y'all...

Many Good Nights of Sleep To Come

We got our new bed today. It's so high that I actually had to go out and buy a step-stool so I could climb up easier.


Our New Bed

Cutting a Bridge Open

The new Patrick O'Rorke Bridge in Rochester, NY is set to officially open on October 2, 2004 with the bridge opening to traffic about a month before that. The demolition of the beloved Stutson Street bridge is set to happen sometime this early Fall. I will be in town the weekend of the ribbon cutting for the new bridge so I can attend a friend's wedding. On a neat little note of coincidence, we had to use the Stutson Street bridge in order to get to the church I grew up in, which is where we met the family of my friend who is getting married. Everything comes around full circle eventually.

"You're All Gonna Be In This Experimental Film..."

The lastest song to be incessantly jangling through my brain is "Experimental Film" by They Might Be Giants. A great animated video for this very catchy song is being hosted on HomeStarRunner. I would almost call this video an Official Video of In Java, Literally due the cool use of a coffee cup as a drum pad.

A last TMBG note for this post, if you go to the TMBG site, you can order mp3 downloads of live shows. I think my mind is going to explode into a million happy pieces with this information.

The Honeymoon - A Quick Photo Retrospective

The honeymoon was wonderful! We took pictures with the new digi, so I thought I'd share some of them. Itinerary for the trip was: San Juan, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and San Juan. Note that we didn't see anything in San Juan other than the view from our ship and the airport.


The beginnings of Hurricane Charley made from some rough seas on Monday. This shot is from our cabin.


St. Maarten with St. Barts in the Background


Me in St. Maarten


Me, Nick Maley (creator of Yoda) of Star Wars fame, and Matt in St. Maarten

We met Edwin & Melanie from Ontario, Canada our first night of the cruise. We had fun hanging out with them over the week.


Jim and Jenny were our dinner mates and pretty cool couple from California

Matt and Me the Last Night of the Cruise

One of our waiters, Alessandro (Alex), with our Baked Alaska


Our waiter, Xavier, serving us Baked Alaska


The dreaded notice that our flight home was delayed, leading to Delta putting us up in a hotel in Atlanta last night

Sunny Beaches and Warm Waves

Packing For the Honeymoon

We will be heading off to the Southern Caribbean for our honeymoon soon. I doubt we'll be doing any blog updates while we're on the ship unless they don't charge for Internet access. Seeing as how they charge for nearly everything else, I wouldn't count on it! Also, someone please pray for sunnier weather for our trip. Right now we're looking at a chance of showers just about every day of the cruise. I'm sure we'll have fun regardless *wink wink nudge nudge*

The Wedding Story

The fact that I'm just getting around to posting about the wedding should give you an idea of how busy we've been these past two and half weeks. I thought it would be worthwhile to get some text up before we finally go off on our honeymoon this coming week.

Thursday: Two Days Before the Wedding

I arrived in Buffalo in the afternoon and immediately went to my grandparent's house to check on the flower arrangement process that my mom had set up in the basement. My Aunt Stella, Uncle Bill, and my Dad arrived a little later for a dinner of homemade breaded porkchops. During a walk after dinner, my Uncle Bill relayed a humorous story about how one of the family friends got so drunk at my parent's wedding that she was trying to climb up light poles. My parents and I then traveled to Lackawanna where I experienced my first futile attempt at sleeping.

Friday: Day Before the Wedding

Friday morning, my mom and got up just before 8am so we could get in one final workout session at Curves before the wedding. Afterwards, my mom shot off for Cheektowaga to continue working on floral arrangements for the wedding. I eventually joined them for lunch and then helped load a bunch of stuff into the car to take to the Reception Hall. After dropping off table arrangements and setting up the seating cards, the ladies all went to get our nails done down the road. My mom and I opted for pedicures as well, which turned out to be one of the most relaxing spa features I've ever experienced. The chairs you sat in had a massage feature that didn't just vibrate, but kneaded your entire back, neck and shoulders.

Afterwards, we separated while different people went to check into hotels and I went back to my grandparent's to wait for Matt to arrive. Anne, my Maid of Honor, and her boyfriend/my friend Sean showed up a little later and we began eating some snacks before going to the church. Mid-bite through a piece of cantaloupe, I realized that I accidentally took all the cds I had burned for the wedding day to the reception hall, which was now locked up. This included the copy of the processional and recessional music that we needed to listen to and practice with at the church. Fortunately, Sean had a copy of Elgar's Enigma Variations with him, and even though it was a slower version, we knew it would ultimately work as a substitute. The wedding rehearsal went well and we trooped off to La Bella Sicilia's for dinner. Matt and I toasted and thanked everyone before we all shoveled massive amounts of Italian goodness into our stomachs. I kissed him good-bye and went to my grandparent's house to sleep.

I wasn't sleepy so I spent some time setting out all my jewelry, make-up, under-dress garments, and packing up what I didn't need. I settled in to sleep again, but panicked when I realized I needed to set some alarms in order to wake myself up in time to shower and partially dress before Donna came to do my hair. I set a dubious looking clock next to the bed and my cell phone before settling once more into bed. I couldn't sleep. I'm pretty sure I got an hour or two, but not much more.

Saturday: The Big Day

Since I was already awake, I got up about a half hour earlier than planned and got into the shower. Realizing I forgot to bring a robe or button shirt that I could easily take off after my hair was done, I rummaged through one of the closets until I found a housecoat to borrow. My grandfather, who is not a morning person, shuffled bleary-eyed into the kitchen to start making some eggs. My grandparents and I sat quietly around the table, sipping tea,and munching on toast while I waited for Donna and her mom to show up to do my hair.

Just as I was about to brush my teeth, Donna pulled in the driveway with hot rollers, curling irons, brushes, and bottles of hair spray in hand. For the next three and a half hours, she moved between gluing my hair in place to fixing both Anne and Heidi's hair.

Then my dad called. He couldn't get into the hall to retrieve the music for the ceremony. My mom told him to call the Hall Manager and try again. My mom took off for the church to put up decorations and then Matt called to tell me that he couldn't get into the reception hall, which was supposed to be open by this point (1 PM) to drop off our wedding cake, a fake decorative one since tiramisu doesn't stack well. I told him to try calling the hall again and if he couldn't get in to just take it to the church and store it in the basement during the ceremony. I anxiously checked my watch. Then my cousin, Joe, who was videotaping the day as his wedding present to us arrived, soon followed by our two photographers. I was still not dressed in the gown since I was waiting for my mom to come back. My bridesmaids seemed to be missing too. Finally, at about 1:45pm, my mom pulled in the driveway. She exclaimed that the church hadn't been open and that she had to leave all the decorations with my Aunt Ginny, who was going to take them back to the church with our friend, Ellen, and hopefully be able to start to decorate before people arrived.

My mom helped me into my dress, train, veil, and some of my jewelry. I stopped to give her a big hug. Picture taking commenced. My dad arrived and informed me that he had the music for the ceremony. I immediately relaxed. We left at 2:30 for the church, arriving just as I saw Matt carrying the wedding cake from his car. I made my dad drive slowly around to the far end of the parking lot and tell one of the guests to make sure Matt stayed in the church out of sight from me.

Anne, Heidi, and me then went to hang out in the library while we waited for everything to start. We congratulated ourselves on figuring out how they were supposed to carry their bouquets. Joe came in with his video camera and asked, "Are you nervous?" I replied the same way I had for the past couple weeks, "Nope!" Nearly everyone had commented that I was the most calm bride they had ever met. I exclaimed, "Oh good! I can hear them playing the song I originally wanted the bridesmaids to walk down the aisle to!" as strains of "Marble Halls" on the piano filtered into the library. A little while later, my dad came in the library. With the door open, I could hear what sounded like the processional music.

I asked my dad, "Did you light the family candles already??" He answered, "No! I don't know what's going on." "Well, this is the processional. We have to go!," I replied. Herding Anne and Heidi out into the hall, I caught a quick glimpse of the congregation. As the clarinet solo in "Nimrod" began, I asked if the bridesmaids had gone out yet. The woman helping us at the church said the groomsmen had just finished walking out. I nearly yelled, "They need to go! Send them out now!" Off they went and I told my dad that we had to go out there just after the clarinet solo ended. We hooked our arms together and went to our starting places. As we began walking in, the first person I saw was our friend, Lynda, from Jamestown. I looked at her and then realized I needed to look at Matt. My eyes found him and the smile that people said seemed to plaster both our faces all day lit up.

The ceremony went without a hitch and was quite beautiful. I had insisted that lyrics be provided in our programs so everyone could sing along, including us. The song list, including processional and recessional was:

• Processional: Edward Elgar's Enigma Variation - Nimrod
• We Gather Together
• The Lord of The Dance
• Panis Angelicus - solo by Holly Corcoran
• The Canticle of the Sun
• Recessional : Ashley MacIsaac - Chorus Jig/King's Reel

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures followed. It seemed like all of Buffalo was getting married on that single, most beautiful day as we hunted for a parking space in Delaware Park behind Albright-Knox. I still say that we had the best dressed bridal party, but I am a little biased.

After a few detours due to construction, we made it to the reception hall and conversed with the DJ so that our entrance music of "Beautiful Day" by U2 that Matt had edited down played just right. We entered with much applause and immediately "cut" the cake, which involved just posing with a knife since the cake was fake. Dave, the best man and Matt's brother, made a short, sentimental toast that had some of the family nearly in tears. My Great-Great Aunt Adele did the bread and salt presentation to ensure that we never went hungry and we all then consumed mass quantities of breaded pork chops, baked chicken, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, green beans, a broccoli/cauliflower mix, and salad. Just about everyone raved about the tiramisu that we had served for dessert.

Before we went out for our first dance as husband and wife, Matt and I stole away to a side room to do some quick practicing together since we never had the chance to practice dancing to the song we had picked. Two minutes later, we emerged to our DJ's relief. We floated across the dance floor, twirling from time to time to Sting's "Until". My dad and I danced to The Temptation's "My Girl". As we moved around the floor, my dad told me that he had wanted to spin me round and round during the part of the song where the tempo picked up, but because the floors were so slippery, he decided against it. Matt and his mom made a pretty picture for Frank Sinatra's "All The Way" and the bridal party seemed happy with our choice of REM's "Nightswimming" before our families navigated onto the dance floor for the oczepiny.

Now, this Polish tradition is not familiar to most people, much less most of our guests that were at the reception. It's basically a combination of an unveiling and fertility rite. My veil comes off and is put on an unmarried bridesmaid (Anne) and a funny looking hat that is adorned with fruit, nuts, aspirin packs, and balloons is put on Matt's head. While this is going on, everyone sings an endless song called "The Twelve Angels" song. After this, Anne, wearing my veil, danced a short dance with Sean. We then all crowded onto the dance floor for much dancing and frivolity. Anne and Heidi did a sort of roast involving a Girl Scout handbook and we did the wedding bouquet/garter toss that unsurprisingly went to Sean and Anne. I have to admit that they did a great job playing along with the whole set-up.

Much more dancing, including The Smith's "How Soon Is Now", went on into the night, ending with The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star." We got the various drunk friends into sober people's cars or shuttle vans, and then headed back to our hotel, exhausted. I didn't sleep too well that night either, but that was more due to Matt's snoring. All in all though, it was a perfect day in the end. We had a superb time with our family and friends, and we're told that a lot of people considered this one of the best times they had at a wedding. So much happiness abound!

The Best of Me Symphony

Go Me! I tied for First Runner-Up in the Best of Me Symphony contest on ...she's a flight risk. The entry I submitted was the Slow Death of Radio post. Incidentally, this is the same post that my former employer found a couple of weeks ago and was passing around the radio station. Apparently, they thought it was well-written and now someone in the blogging world agrees.

Picture To Prove It

Julia's New Haircut

Since Heidi was a little skeptical that I actually did the deed, here's the picture to prove it. This took me just under a half hour to blow dry, curl, and hair spray. Notice how flushed I am from the heat of all those devices, not to mention the damn humidity. It bugs the hell out of me that I have to get up earlier to do my hair now! *grins* Maybe I'll have to buzz it off or something. Just kidding. Really.

"Why Don't You Go And Cut Your Hair..." - Pavement

I jokingly told a lot of friends that my hair was going to get all chopped after the wedding.  I was only semi-joking.  A year and a half of growing my hair one length so it would be perfect for the wedding can make a girl bored to tears, so off it came today.  Think about 4 inches off.  My once very long hair now falls in soft layers just above the shoulders.  Sure wish I had pictures of all the hair on the floor around the chair at the hairdressers!

I throw out a challenge to Heidi now, who said she would chop her hair if I did.

A Beautiful Day...

Matt and me exiting the church after our wedding 

I will write a more detailed post about how wonderful our wedding was.  In the meantime, here's a link to all the pictures from our wedding for your viewing and ordering pleasure.  Matt is also hoping to add a smaller selection of pictures to our wedding website. And one of the nifty things about the photographer we chose is that we already have a cd of 467 photos from our wedding to play with and share digitally.

Wedding Update Soon.. In the Meantime...

I hope to do a wedding update soon.  All good times!!  For now, visit Heidi's blog at this link.

Knot Tieing To Commence

Matt and I are about to head out of here for the big weekend.  I'm leaving for Buffalo in about 45 minutes for a final dress fitting to make sure the train "hangs right."  Tomorrow involves the girly stuff of mani-pedicures and then the wedding rehearsal.  Saturday is the big day of course, involving getting up way too early to get my hair to cooperate.  Fortunately, the weather looks to be quite nice.  Some say, even perfect.   Wish us luck and I'll catch you all next week, perhaps when I'm manning the booth again for work at the County Fair.

Julia's "Last Night" Out

Several of my friends here in Jamestown decided to throw me a little bachelorette party this past Friday.  I had originally said that I didn't want much of a fuss and that beers consumed in front of a fire at my friend's parent's house was a fine idea to me.  Fast forward a month or more, and that idea switched to wanting to go to Bemus Point.
 
Lori spearheaded organizing the event, despite the fact that she's getting married about a month after Matt and me.  I slowly began to realize that there might be some small shenanigans when she innocently asked me if I would wear a veil that had condoms attached to it.  I nixed the idea of the condoms, but consented to wearing a veil. 
 
Friday night, a little after 7pm, Lori, Clair, and Lynda arrived.  Matt complained just before they arrived that I was wearing "his" shirt.  I had to nicely explain that any shirt I had that exposed some cleavage was not "his" shirt, and that there would be times that I would be wearing those shirts while he wasn't around.  The veil turned out quite nice, with a strip of red roses hiding the barrette the veil was attached to.  I opened some presents that had some honeymoon appropriate attire in them, took some photos in the veil, and we took off.
 
Lynda, our wonderful designated driver, maneuvered into a parking spot near the Surf Club, where we were eating.  Lori ran off ahead of us as we waited for traffic to pass by.  I assumed she was going to get us a table until we got to the entrance of the restaurant.  Plastered on the door was a poster that said something to the effect, "Sexy Single Gentleman!  It's Julia's Last Night Out!" with my picture in the middle.  I could feel trouble sneaking up on us.
 
After we ordered sushi, I asked Lori where she had put the posters since she had run out before our appetizers arrived.  She replied, "Oh everywhere!  There are these guys down the street that wanted one to put on their porch too!"  I groaned and said, "I'm not used to such fuss!  I mean.. I know people around here!"  Lori said, "Well, mostly vacationers will see it, so I wouldn't worry too much!"  And just as she finished saying that, one of the town supervisors I know walks by and sees me.  About 10 minutes later, Darin and his wife (from the Legislative office) walks across the street, sees the poster, laughs, and then sees me.  So much for being incognito!  This on top of the fact that the girls were giving me a hard time because I was chugging water like it was my business.  I knew my earnest efforts at telling them it was due to the massage I had and the need to flush the bad toxins out of my body wasn't going to hold water for long.
 
After stuffing ourselves with sushi, bruchetta, soup, and panini sandwiches and reapplying lipstick, we took off for The Village Casino.  As we walk in, we run into another girl I know that used to work with Matt.  At the bar, while we pondered what drinks to start with,  Darin comes over with a pitcher and several plastic cups, "Here's a pitcher of Sex On The Beach to do shots with," he said.  Drink number 1.  Drinks number 2 were a blow-job shot, which we convinced Lori that we didn't really need to pick up off the bar with our mouths.  Drink number 3 was an overly sweet Midori Sour for me.  Drink number 4 was a Buttery Nipple shot courtesy of Darin.  Drink number 4 was another blow job shot courtesy of some random guy sitting at the bar next to us.  Drink number 5 was a regular sized Sex On The Beach. And finally, Drink number 6 was another buttery nipple courtesy of John.  Needless to say, I was happily making my way to being very, very inebriated.

In the midst of all the drinking, another guy from the other side of the bar ran over, looked at a copy of the poster Lori had hung up that he had apparently torn down, looked at me and said, "It is you!"  He then ran away.  I think I said something like, "Well of course it's me!  I'm the only one wearing a veil in this place."  Then our friend John from the newspaper showed up and we gabbed for a little while. 

Smackdab was the band playing that night, so we grooved for a little while.  Eventually, I got tired of standing and insisted on getting a table where we could see everyone but rest our feet a little.  By that time, Mark and Clair's boyfriend, Kevin, had shown up after getting out of work.  So much for a real girl's night out, but those guys are a lot of fun, so we let them sit with us.  Lori kept bugging me to go dance until she got the band to announce that "It's Julia's last night out!  This one's for her" or something before launching into a Rolling Stones cover.  We had to go shake it of course, and were even joined by Darin on the floor. 
 
I get tired when I drink, so we packed it in a little after 1AM.  Clair said good-bye to Kevin, and we took off for my house.  Lynda still had to go home, but we got Clair and Lori set up with pillows and blankets for a little sleepover.
 
I stumbled into the unoccupied guest room to escape Matt's snoring and was sleeping quite fitfully until Matt came in later on to ask if I was getting up.  I think I whined, "Why?" He replied, "It's 10:30!"  I shot back, "What, you act like that's late or something??"  That morning, Lori and Clair found out the real reason Matt calls me "sunshine."  Admist some grumbling and orange juice, I pulled myself together to go hang out with everyone downstairs.  The girls were checking in with their significant others and we decided that a big breakfast from The Coffee Cup was the only cure to a night of drinking.  Kevin joined us as we scarfed down some greasy goodness and caffeinated wonder.
 
An excellent time all around.  I saved one of the posters that had been stuck to a tree.  I'm almost afraid to go back into Bemus to see if any other posters are lingering in the doorways of the bars there.
 

Settling Back Into Blog Obscurity...

Phew. Well, it looks like the number of visitors to this blog is slowing winding down to a more average number for me. All that attention due to some links I provided to the Fahrenheit 9-11 tran"script" culminated in over 3,000 visits last week Wednesday alone, with similarly high numbers for about a week. I tell ya', getting linked by some bigger players is a nice high, but unnerving at the same time. You start to wonder, "Who are all these people? Do I know any of them? Is it anyone that didn't know I had a blog and is now all like 'Geez, Julia has this blog.. you should see some of the stuff she writes about!'"

It's stuff like this that makes me paranoid. The kind of paranoid where you wonder if the government has a file on you, which I'm sure they do in my case since I've worked on the White House grounds for the annual Easter Egg Roll in 1999 not to mention other sundry details. I'm kidding. Mostly.

In non-related items, the local bachelorette party is tomorrow night. Just a very small group of my female friends here in town and me are going to dinner and then taking in a local band (and alcohol) at one of the hot,summer spots in the county. Hopefully I will have some good stories to tell after that!

"Just as long as I don't call myself a 'jelly doughnut'!"

It's always interesting to see candidates for office in action when confronted with a large ethnicity in the district they are running in. My boss had his campaign staff searching high and low for someone who speaks Polish so he could place an ad in the local paper for the Polish-American festival this weekend. I overheard the various phone calls of, "Well, can you find Chester? He should know. He's fluent. Well... who else do we know??" Finally, I asked what was needed and said I could call my grandmother.

My grandmother speaks Polish better than she writes it, but we came up with something that worked:

"Vyczemy wam najlepszego dnia Polskiego Americkanskievo festival!"
(We are wishing you the best day at the Polish American festival!")

I checked it against a free Polish-English translation site and we fired this off to my boss:

"?yczymy Was Lepszy Dzie? przy Polskim Ameryka?skim Festiwalu!"

He laughed when I said I wouldn't venture a guess at how to pronounce the phrase since he might end up saying something he wished he hadn't. I jokingly added that he wouldn't want to make a mistake and call himself a "jelly doughnut" like JFK had reportedly done while visiting Germany (classic urban legend).

Summer Smack

A week and a half ago, I got a case of musical cravings that led me to consume some downloads off Napster. Fortunately, the playlist that was born of this included some songs I already possessed. Here's my answer for when you start craving the musical smack that summer brings:

Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Modest Mouse - Float On
Blink 182 - Down
The Killers - Somebody Told Me
Muse - Time Is Running Out
The Music - Take The Long Road And Walk It
The Vines - Ride
The Darkness - Growing On Me
JET - Last Chance
Beastie Boys - Ch-check It Out
The Cure - The End of the World
Sarah Slean - Weight
Morrissey - I'm Not Sorry
The Thrills - Big Sur
Fountains of Wayne - Hey Julie

Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Matt and I will be headed up to Rochester, again, this weekend to take care of more wedding details. Some will be fun, like the Mad Hatter's Tea Party that my bridesmaids are throwing me tomorrow at Hicks & McCarthy in Pittsford. It's a co-ed event, so I'll get to hang out with a few of my guy friends from way back. I'm honestly feeling some trepidation about the event since Heidi asked me if I knew where she could pick up some cards that had strippers on them. Oh the mischief!

We only have about two weeks left before the wedding now. If you see a huge fall-off in posts, you can guess why!

So You're Just Discovering This Thing Called A Blog...

One of my good friends here in Jamestown stunned me last week when she asked, "What's a blog?" I decided to round up a couple primer blogs for her to check out and then had the idea to copy on here what I sent her. It'll also give you a quick glance at what I'm reading most days:

Blog For America: The Blog that “started it all” in the political sense. This was Howard Dean’s very effective campaign blog that he used to raise his millions until he stepped down. It’s still being updated everyday as he works to get John Kerry and other Democrats elected.
www.blogforamerica.com

Eschaton: Democrat that really gives it to the GOP. One of the best “left-leaning” blogs out there.
atrios.blogspot.com

GirlHacker’s Random Log: Updated week days. She usually does two different paragraphs about something she’s read about or items of interest happening where she lives (State of Washington). Simple design, but usually pretty interesting bits of trivia.
girlhacker.com/log.html

Jenny’s Blog: This is the girl I know from Rochester. She has a really well designed blog and updates it daily.
www.ljcfyi.com

Wil Wheaton’s Blog: Yeah, the same guy from the movie Stand By Me and Star Trek – The Next Generation. He’s a good writer though. Funny stories.
wilwheaton.net

Wonkette-Beltway Blog: Washington DC gossip
wonkette.com

No Sleep, No Dreams

I've essentially been up since 3am this morning when Matt's snoring forced me to find refuge in the guest room. A quieter outer environment, yes; a quiet internal state, no. The stress of all kinds of things is catching up with me. The easy ones are the wedding and general work stress that comes from being assigned too many projects to get done properly in part-time hours. There's a myriad of others ranging from mundane household chores that I can't manage to stay on top of due to always being out of town on wedding-related trips to a smash of political hassles and public radio station responsibilities.

Matt actually got up and sought me out when he realized I was stomping around the house at the wee hours. We talked and hopefully some of the manageable items will sort themselves out. I just can't wait until everything is all over, which may be as soon as the middle of September or the middle of November depending on how things go.

me(ish).org is alive!

The blog that inspired it all for me is back up and running as something entirely different.

me(ish).org is now less blog-like in the sense that there isn't daily "wibblings" as the author, Meg, would say. What remains is a photolog area, a words area that replaces the blog, and a jumble of other nice things to distract yourself.


Meg of me(ish).org 

Irish TV Journalist Carole Coleman Is My Hero

While our own media seems to find it hard to ask tough questions of President Bush, Radio Television Eire Journalist Carole Coleman had the integrity to put "W" on the spot. It riled up the President and his staff, but that's a good thing.

RTE Story
View Interview Between Coleman and Bush (RealPlayer)

Fahrenheit 9/11: Verbatim Tran"script"

The script for the second most controversial film of the year now is available:

Part One

Part Two
Part Three

Addendum: I'm aware this goes to a pro-Bush site and is not a perfect transcript. It's still an interesting supplement to seeing the movie. I highly encourage everyone to see the movie, despite their political affiliations/beliefs. If you're going to criticize or praise the movie, you should at least see it before you make any commentary on it.

The Important Albums of My Teen-Angst-Ridden Years

A flash of boredome made me think of creating this very incomplete list. Steal the idea all you want.

Morrissey - Viva Hate
REM - Out of Time
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Beethoven - Symphony No. 2
U2- Achtung Baby
They Might Be Giants - Flood
Live - Throwing Copper
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
Harry Connick, Jr. - We Are In Love
Twin Peaks Soundtrack
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Full Moon Fever

Fashion By Women Who Love Women

Some would say that the phrase "Lesbian Fashion" is an oxymoron, but those same people probably had no idea that the trend-setting fashion in Sex and the City was put together by a Lesbian. Find out more in this article, The Secrets of Lesbian Style.

Before Sunrise... Before Sunset

One of my favorite movies from the 1990s was Before Sunrise. The sequel, Before Sunset, will start showing in theatres tomorrow and already is garnering favorable reviews.

The great thing about the first movie was the dialogue. It reminded me of conversations I had with friends throughout the years. I suppose people like certain films depending on how much of themselves they see reflected on the screen.

While I've seen this movie with many friends, the time I watched it with Matt holds a special place in my heart since it was a time when our relationship began its slow turn from friendship to something more.

Before Sunset: Official Site
IndieWire Review
Related Post on Chicagoist

To Hyphen Or Not To Hyphen?

Matt and I got our marriage license today. We did the big compromise on changing names which has resulted in a hyphen for me. It was either that or I wasn't taking his name at all.

So one step closer. It does feel a little weird. We should have at least one picture of us filling out papers that his secretary took. Nothing like documenting the whole shabang from start to finish. Heck, I was even there when Matt's divorce was finalized* in 1999. How's that for being there every step of the way?


* Matt's previous marriage was already in divorce proceedings when I met him.

3 Years And Counting...

While looking into some new ideas for tweaking my blog template (i.g. the new Archives menu), I realized that I've been blogging for over three years now. In fact, my Blog Birthday was this Saturday, June 26th. A big Happy Birthday to In Java, Literally..., especially when I consider how far this blog has come!

For those who haven't been reading from the start, I came up with the idea for this blog based on a series of journal entries I began writing in high school. I had been journaling since third grade and came with the idea to start off journal entries that I wrote in Java's (then known as Java Joe's) coffeehouse with "In Java, Literally..." I started reading blogs in June 2001, mainly not.so.soft and Jenny's first blog: jenny.blogspot.com, and thought I'd give this new Internet tool a whirl.

These three years have included national tragedies, weddings and engagements; changes in job situations, several passings of loved ones, home address changes, many mini-holidays and longer vacations, various elections, blog template changes, movies, music, and book obsessions; the birth of shoot-off blogs and friends creating their own blogs; some sad times, but overall, many happy moments; and a general growth in maturity that you hope comes with age and experience.

You can count on more of the same in the coming years, but hopefully it's as fun a ride, if not better, as it is now.

"I knew it was bad, but I had no idea things were this bad..."

We saw Fahrenheit 9/11 tonight in Erie, PA. I don't think it's radical or hyperbolic to say that every American needs to see this film. And after seeing this film, every eligible American should register to vote if they have not done so at this time. We both stay very up to date on current events and the buzz going on around blogs, but even Matt commented that he had no ideas the lies, cover-ups, and corruption are as bad as they are. This led to me stealing his comment for the title of this blog.

Fahrenheit 9/11: The Official Site
View the Trailer for the Movie
The surprise review by FOX news
Register To Vote (courtesy of John Kerry)

Visitors to the La Casa House

The title is a joke (think of what the Spanish phrase translates into and then you'll know how weird my sense of humor is).

Heidi and Ryan are visiting us right now so Ryan can more leisurely register for classes at SUNY Fredonia.

Apparently, the quiet country life has led Heidi to want to move in with us. I say, "Sure, but only if you cook!" She was a bit flabbergasted when I informed her earlier today that we didn't have flour (that I knew of), baking powder, or cream for making whipped cream. Dinner menu for tonight includes grilled chicken done in Greek marinade, couscous tabouleh (that I made!), regular salad, possibly pita bread, and homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert. We're also hoping to add some Southern Tier Brewing Company draft beer to that meal along with some Sangria that I'll make when I get home.

What's Your Salary in Galleons?

Ever get so obsessed with literary works that you start wondering what it would be like to live, eat, and breathe in that fictional world? Well, now you can figure out how much stuff would cost in Harry Potter's world using this currency convertor to find wizarding equivalents.